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Topic: "Forever Eden "New Fox Reality Show (Read 32186 times)

From Paradise to Eden – Fox Prepares for Reality Soap Opera by David Bloomberg -- 12/22/2003

Fox has joined up once again with the producers of Paradise Hotel to expand and improve upon the concept. Starting in the Spring, expect to see Forever Eden, the first reality show without a definite end date – but with soap opera tendencies.

When Paradise Hotel started last summer, Fox talked about it having no definite ending, no prize, that it would just go on as long as it was warranted. Well, critics, viewers, and the producers of the show might have disagreed on how long it truly was “warranted,” but it filled the summer and then some, and eventually came up with a twisted prize structure. Now, however, Fox is trying again with the same producers, according to Variety.

The show, currently called Forever Eden, will be a reality soap opera that can go on as long as ratings support it. It will feature unmarried men and women who leave their lives behind to live in a luxury resort setting… for years.

Fox is so certain of this concept that they have given an order for 25 weekly one-hour episodes. It is expected to premiere some time this Spring, and while no airing schedule has yet been determined, producers say Fox has promised to be patient while the show builds an audience.

Mike Darnell, Fox’s alternative executive Vice President, said that the participants could be on for six month or three years – depending on if they want to stay and how they play their cards. He added that if somebody is looking to be famous beyond the normal 15 minutes you get with most reality shows, this is the ticket – “This is a chance to be famous for a long time.” Of course what he failed to mention is that they would be famous but still locked away in their resort, unable to reap the benefits of that fame until they leave and, presumably, aren’t so famous anymore.

Darnell referenced Paradise Hotel, mentioning that they learned some lessons from that show. “When you keep people in one place long enough, dysfunction and a little bit of dementia sets in. So it got us to thinking, how long can people stay?” Well, it seems to me, personally, that they didn’t have to run Paradise Hotel to find that out – we’ve seen Big Brother participants go stir crazy after weeks or months.

Apparently, one way to keep them around is that they will somehow be paid. The details are unclear, but it was noted that if a participant walks away voluntarily because they can’t stand it anymore, they will lose everything. If they are asked to leave (again, no details on whether it would be a vote or what), they lose half. But at certain points, such as an anniversary date, they could choose to leave with everything. Still, that will present participants with difficulties – if somebody has stuck around a while and accumulated a lot, they won’t want to voluntarily leave, even if they are going nuts.

But the producers plan to spice things up to keep it interesting. They will present lots of twists to the players, along with guest appearances from relatives or friends and changes in the cast. As mentioned above, there is no current information on how cast changes will occur, but producers have said it won’t follow the pairing off format that Paradise Hotel had. Although, of course, producers hope for coupling on the show. Casting has already begun, though there is no apparent information about it on the Fox website.

CHICAGO (thefutoncritic.com) -- FOX will once again go back to the drawing board on Friday nights as the network revealed today it has pulled its reality series "Forever Eden" from its schedule effective immediately.

FOX's previously announced baseball coverage will fill the network's Friday slot this week while back-to-back episodes of "Totally Outrageous Behavior" and "World's Craziest Videos" are scheduled for April 23. Movies, beginning with "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider," will fill the entire Friday block starting April 30, the first Friday of the May sweeps period. The news means "Eden" more than likely won't resurface again - if at all - until the summer at the earliest.

"Eden" managed a paltry 1.9 rating/3 share in households and a 1.1 rating in adults 18-49 for its most recent airing according to preliminary fast national data. Should both scores hold up nationally, they would mark the network's worst performance in the Friday, 9:00/8:00c hour this season.

FOX announced this week that 'Forever Eden', the show that had been billed as never-ending, was being pulled from its schedule, effective immediately. The ratings must have been much worse than anyone anticipated, as there were still 16 episodes filmed, edited, and ready to air when the show was pulled.

So what happened? How did a show that promised to be as much a hit as last summer's 'Paradise Hotel' end up going down the ratings drain? In the humble opinion of this reality television addict, there were several factors that added to the demise and eventual banishment of 'Eden'.

Timing is Everything

'Paradise Hotel' was a summer fling - a guilty pleasure that went hand in hand with the carefree feelings that the warm summer weather brings. It started out with a few twists, but we had time to get to know the characters and the dynamics of the group before the new people started arriving and the "originals" were asked to leave Paradise...forever. Above and beyond that, PH was shown twice a week in a regular, dependable timeslot. Even if we couldn't tune in, we could set our VCR's/TiVo's to record the show and know that we weren't going to get a rerun of '24' or 'The Simpsons'.

'Eden' kicked off in the winter months, while some of us were still under a blanket of snow. Maybe it was just more difficult for us to relate to the group of bikini-clad twenty-somethings while in our real lives we were wearing ski jackets and ear muffs.

A shuffling schedule cost 'Eden' many, many viewers. It started off with 'American Idol' as the lead-in, and caught many viewers that way. But then the show was pitted against two reality titans, 'Survivor: All Stars' and 'The Apprentice' on Thursday nights. Who had time for three hours of reality tv in one night? FOX finally moved the show to Friday nights, but by then it was too late. Even if we had known it was being moved again (which a lot of us didn't), there's a reason most big shows aren't scheduled for Friday nights. It's just not a great time for new programming to pick up new viewers. Many people who had watched the show faithfully since the premiere simply gave up at this point.

Imitation is the Greatest Form of Flattery

While similarities between the two shows were to be expected, ‘Eden’ wasted no time in incorporating PH-style elements, from the quirky British host to the twists that seemed to be thrown in at the whims of the producers. The problem? This kind of thing was fresh and new last summer. This time around we were expecting something just a little different.

The Cast of Characters

You can write up the greatest premise in the world for a reality show, but it will flop if the cast is dull. I’m not saying that the cast of ‘Eden’ was a group of boring individuals. But we never really got to know them outside of the partying and scheming. We weren’t shown a human side to most of them, and any glimpse into their real personalities was edited out in favour of a steamy romp or a drunken spat. Sure, people behaving badly make for good TV, but if you don’t care about the people doing the nasty stuff one way or the other, it takes away from the drama.

In keeping with the PH comparisons, they had the most dysfunctional group of people at the very centre of the show. Zack, Amy, Toni, Alex – they all had very strong alpha-type personalities which were guaranteed to clash. Throw in the “nice” ones – Kavita, Dave – and the eccentrics and artists – Matthew JC, Charla, Tom – and the mix was complete. A few schemers like Keith and Tara just added to the overall picture, and we couldn’t stop watching.

While ‘Eden’ had its’ stand-outs, most of the people just didn’t stir things up like their predecessors. Sure, the twists had everyone on their toes, but those involved just didn’t seem to be that into it.

A Little Surprise Goes a Long Way

Finally, one of the things that hooked those of us who watched PH was that we had no idea how or when it would end. And what was the ultimate prize? Who knew? The speculation was almost as much fun as the actual show. With ‘Eden’, the whole idea was simple – stay as long as you can, and when you leave you get cash. Period. No ‘hook up or get out’, no mystery, nothing to keep us coming back for more.

So What Now?

It’s been suggested that FOX will bring ‘Eden’ back to us this summer, and that might not be a bad idea. Hopefully in the meantime they will take a look at the big picture and figure out how to hook us.

Personally, I’d rather see a ‘Paradise Hotel’ sequel. Bring back the over-the-top outrageous characters. Bring back the mystery, the intrigue, the twists that we could all see coming a mile away but didn’t think would actually happen. Give us a show that we know will end, even if we don’t know how. Give us back the cheesy, soap-opera-like, shocking, dramatic moments that we talked about for weeks on end.

I always looked forward to watching "Forever Eden". Friday nights is a bad night though. Alot of people like to go out on Friday night to settle down from the work week. My husband and I always managed a way to be home in time to watch this show. We loved the unknown twist that were added every week. Please put this back on the air.

I do have to say that I am sooo upset that they have decided to take away our Forever Eden! Every week, I scan my digital cable to see if it will air. It's so disappointing! They get us hooked and then yank the chain. I am so excited to hear that it may be coming back this summer. I was a HUGE PH fan, therefore I knew that I would love this show as well. Let's hope they do decide on bringing it back!!

FOX announces remaining 'Forever Eden' episodes will not air this summer

By Steve Rogers, 05/21/2004

So much for FOX's previously announced plans to broadcast the remaining unaired episodes of its canceled Forever Eden and Playing It Straight reality series as part of its Summer 2004 programming slate.

In announcing its Summer, Fall, and Winter programming schedules to advertisers at this week's "upfront" presentation, FOX Entertainment President Gail Berman announced that despite the network's previous announcements, neither reality series will be returning to the FOX airwaves this summer.

"Forever Eden, we don't anticipate returning to the schedule, nor do we anticipate bringing back Playing It Straight," Berman told the assembled crowd of ad buyers and entertainment reporters.

Perhaps recognizing that both programs' ratings difficulties were at least partially a result of the network's own ridiculous scheduling decisions (Playing It Straight aired in the Fridays 8PM ET/PT time period where FOX hasn't had anything close to hit since The X-Files moved to Sundays in 1996, while the network sent Eden on a dizzying scheduling death march that ended with the program having aired only seven episodes on four different weeknight evenings), Berman also took the unusual step of promising that the network would share the details of the programs' endings with fans of the shows.

"We will certainly provide any viewer that needs the information with the information of the conclusion," she told Zap2It.com. Exactly how the "information" will be "provided" remains unclear.

On the other hand, difficult as it may seem to believe, Berman seems to be entertaining the idea of bringing this winter's pitiful The Littlest Groom reality miniseries back for another edition. "Maybe we'll do that one again; that was kind of fun," she told the audience, when asked about the show.

However Eden fans don't have to give up all hope of ever seeing the remainder of the series air at some point. As a result of an unusually large initial twenty-five episode commitment to Forever Eden, FOX is still sitting on eighteen unaired Eden episodes -- so in a world of 200 digital cable channels, it wouldn't be too surprising to see some network pick up the remaining episodes for broadcast. On the other hand, diehard viewers of the enjoyable six-episode Playing It Straight might not be so lucky (although, in a fair world, things would probably be the other way around... but if there's anything veteran television viewers know, it's that no one would ever accuse the television industry of being fair -- and if you have any doubts, see both these programs' initial scheduling slots for exhibits A and B.)

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - Wait. Did Jackie pick a gay guy or a heterosexual on "Playing it Straight?" What happened to those skanks and himbos who were supposed to be on "Forever Eden," well, forever? Who, exactly, are "The Ortegas?" And what exactly is it like to live the "Still Life"? Those are just a few of the mysteries left obscured by FOX's multi-tiered schedule unveiled on Thursday (May 20).Talking to reporters in anticipation of Thursday upfront presentation to advertisers, FOX Entertainment President Gail Berman trumpeted a schedule so full of shiny new offerings that no consideration will be given to dusting off a few old chestnuts during the summer months. "The Ortegas," scheduled for a fall premiere last year, will join the hardly esteemed ranks of the Randy Quaid alleged comedy "The Grubbs," which FOX also forcibly slipped through the cracks. "Still Life" had an interesting premise, an interesting pilot and a hypothetical midseason slot, but beyond your friendly neighborhood television critic, nobody ever got to see it.

"We don't put shows on our schedule that we ultimately feel don't have the juice behind them to work," Berman insists. "That's just a fact of life. It happens at every network. I don't know that ours is more than anybody else's ."

So you take it off the air then you give us the thumbs up that its returning in June. You know popular or not if you start a show like that you need to end it. If you would have pulled this with Paradise hotel i would have given up on fox completely. Its not only ridiculous it's rude, to suck allot of people into a show and then take it away and on top of that one min say its returning and then lie about that. I'm half tempted to give fox up again.

How crappy for them to just rip away our FOREVER EDEN. I didnt know of the show PH, from what I"ve read I would have most likely like it too. But regardless you dont promise viewers something and then take it away. Fox lied about 2 things as far as Eden, it would at least last 25 shows and it would be back in june. Yeah a big BS to that one. I would love to see the show back since there are a some 16 or 18 shows left unseen, the least they could do is show them for the people who did love the show. I hate reality shows and never have watched one until forever eden. Something about it just got me addicted, and the theme song ROCKED :;>).... Even if they didnt re-air, they could at least thrown the 25 episodes on a DVD (like osbournes or simple life) with a added where the cast is and let us lovers of the show buy the dang DVD to see what they took from us. I mean give us SOMETHING. I did sign the petition that was offered. Unfortunaly there wasnt as many people as I would like to see, but I will be working on that myself; now that I know it is there. If you ask me i think its a pretty good idea the DVD thing. But Im not fox. I tell you something else, after this with FOX and their BS, I dont think I am gonna watch FOX no more. Im glad I found this forum, so I could get this off my chest. I really miss FOREVER EDEN. One more thing:

I was addicted to the little song the theme song. I have been somehow trying to find it, anywhere to download it. If anyone knows how I could get that song, I would just love them to death. Thanks a Bunch dizees_angel@yahoo.com

Wow Forever Eden in the news ..not good news for good news for the folks living in the UK only . Those Lucky UK people ..grrrr :':')

Five picks up 'Forever Eden' in UKThursday, December 16 2004, 09:29 GMT -- by Neil Wilkes

Forever Eden, the "never-ending" reality series axed after just seven episodes, will be shown in the UK next year.

The show, fronted by Wish You Were Here? host Ruth England, was dropped by FOX after a disappointing ratings debut. Although only seven episodes were shown Stateside, programme makers Mentorn continued to produce the original 26 episodes ordered by the US network.

Now the series will air - in its entirety - in the UK on Five some time during 2005.

The format is similar to its predecessor Paradise Hotel, which has also aired on Five. In Forever Eden, eleven contestants live in a luxury location but must form bonds with each other to avoid elimination and remain in paradise.

Q: Whatever happened to the reality show Paradise Hotel? It only was on for one season. Will it be making a return to television? —Jerry, San Antonio

Andy says: Oh, how much we miss the summer of 2003, with “Paradise Hotel” bringing middle school-style conflicts and romances into our living rooms. Set at Villa Arabesque in Acapulco, the series was a tour de immaturity, and it was fantastic, populated with unparalleled cast members including “Love Cruise”’s Toni Ferrari. And now there’s news that it might be coming back this summer.

During its summer run, “Paradise Hotel” wasn’t watched by “American Idol”-sized audiences, but it often won its time period in the advertiser-coveted 18 to 49 demographic. More significantly, it developed a pretty substantial cult following. The show did so well FOX added six weeks to its run and also sold the format internationally. FOX’s Gail Berman hinted that the series might return during the summer of 2004.

But it never returned. A distant relative of the series did air on FOX the following year, but “Forever Eden” was really an awkward half-cousin. Planned as a series that would run indefinitely, its lame casting and confusing game structure led to FOX airing only seven episodes before pulling the plug.

Thus, “Paradise Hotel” fans — like fans of “The Mole,” and not its annoying cousin “Celebrity Mole” — sat and waited, until last week, when an exec at the production company that produced the show said FOX was discussing bringing the show back. Digital Spy reports that both cost and controversy played into the decision to not let it return. But the series has done well overseas, and FOX is apparently now talking about bringing it back. To help with the cost, an idea has been floated to bring the original cast back to paradise, which would be even more thrilling.

However, shortly after this report came out, “an operative” told Defamer “that the show will not be back.” We’re refusing to believe it, though, until we hear official word.

Gael says: Every time I check the "Ask the Reality Experts" mailbag, I am floored at how many people are itching to know more about "Paradise" and "Eden." It is truly the Question that Will Not Die. In the last 45 days, we've been asked about the show no less than 25 times.

"Paradise Hotel," with its good-looking meanies and its slow-to-awaken good guys, had a bit of everything — except good taste. It had crazy Tom, who carried around a stuffed monkey named Smokey. It had evil uber-couple Amy and Zack, and Zack's on-air threat to come after another contestant, Keith, with "about 50 guys." It had lovely-if-dim Charla, who finally wised up and led the more likable contestants to victory.

And in the end, it has some bizarre unfairness, where Keith and Charla each won $250,000 and had the option to split it with the roommate who'd gotten them that far. It was a split decision — adorable Keith split the cash with love interest Tara, but Charla, after talking to perennial reality contestant Toni, kept it all for herself. (Sorry, Dave!) You don't see that kind of drama on PBS.

As much as it would be entertaining to see the show come back, maybe it's best to just let sleeping cheese lie. It could never be as deliciously bad again.

Hi guys I know I'm new but since you all sem to have been as addicted to Forever Eden as much I am, I'd write and let you know that we've been lucky enough to see the show in it's full over here in Australia on our Cable network.

If you'd like to know what happened then just let me know and I'll answer here.

OMG ..YES Taken |#' I can't even begin to thank you in advance ]#* I do not need to tell you how lucky you are ..someday maybe FOX will air the rest of the series..rumors now for awhile that they are setting up there own Reality only Network ..OK i'll shutup and let you reply *%# )**~

Taken!...to the Forum! (^.# Sorry you've been under the weather & hope you get to feeling better real soon. I've never watched Forever Eden, so can't answer your questions. Puddin probably can and she'll be here in a few hours I think. In the meantime, you take care and come back whenever you can! Your Friendly Greeter,Ruday *^?

Taken , were so sorry that you are not feeling well }2{ Flowers for you /*^ {^[ If you up to filling in the blanks please do so when you can , we already waited almost a year ..so we are not in a rush (%#This was the last episode aired here before it was pulled ..............

Neveen hates "donkey kong" Jason. He pokes fun of her ass. "You make me look like a genius, and I'm not even that smart," Neveen yells. Jason agrees he ain't no brainiac, but he thinks this is Neveen's way of hitting on him.

Brooke is pissed at the way Jason treated Neveen, and she b!tches about it to Wallace. Why does he listen? Hint: he's trying to score with her. Then Liz complains to David that the women don't like her. David puts up with her crap too. How come? Hint: he's trying to get past first base.

Perhaps Wallace and David should take Matt's approach and lay it on the line. Matt asks Kassie flat out if she finds him attractive. He notes that they have a "vibe," and suggests whether she would be mad if he made a move on her. He goes in for the kill.

Kassie tells Brooke that Wallace likes her. Will Brooke stay away from her best friend Shawna's man? Later that night, Chris and Kassie discuss Wallace's hot body. Yes, Chris. Wallace, Matt and Chris sweaty up the dance floor together. Yes, that is three guys. After Chris goes to his room, Kassie lets Wallace know that Chris commented on his body. Wallace is shocked and the homophobia sets in. Chris confesses to the camera that he is attracted to Wallace even though he doesn't think Wallace is gay.

Wallace freaks out, and phones Brooke. He needs a woman ASAP to prove that he is straight. Wallace plops down on Brooke's bed, and the two get busy under the covers. He later admits that Brooke is merely a scapegoat.

After applying his Rogaine and zit cream, Jordan laments that everyone has paired off. Neveen is upset that she has to sleep alone too. Claudia reads the Bible instead of moaning about the onset of coupledom.

The next day, Chris grills Brooke on her night with her new man. She is coy, and so is Wallace when everyone else poses their 20 questions. Wallace lies and says that nothing happened. Embarrassed?

Matt's mad because Kassie is always around Neveen and he finds her annoying. He thinks he's the "boyfriend" now who can tell Kassie who she should hang out with.

Neveen is kicked out of her room when Matt sleeps over with Kassie. He's pleased he swayed his girlfriend to rid Neveen. Brooke is on the hunt for Wallace, and she invites him to sleep over. Wallace is worried because Brooke was just supposed to be a cover to protect his heterosexuality. He's not in Eden for a relationship, and that's what she thinks is happening. Wallace stays in his room, and then gets bored. So he calls Brooke to come over.Jordan comes up with an idea for a relay race. Matt's team loses, so Jordan decides that Matt, Wallace and Chris must wear women's dresses that night. Claudia and Brooke will don lingerie. At dinner, the outfitted losing team comes in to applause. Matt's fishnet stockings itch.

Host Ruth has everyone write a question directed to another guest. They then gather at the Tree of Truth to reveal the answers. Liz is asked about the "flat stomach" comment she supposedly didn't make about Kassie. Liz fesses up that it was true, but Kassie doesn't seem to be mad. The next question is for Wallace -- does he have a real sexual desire to be with Brooke? He says a qualified "yes." Someone wants to know who Claudia trusts the least. She says that she has the most insecurity around Brooke. David is asked how he knows Brooke and Kassie want him banished. David says that he spoke to Liz and Claudia, but Claudia shakes her head in disagreement. Liz refuses to say who told her. After the questioning, Wallace is mad that Jordan put in the question about Brooke. Brooke is pissed about the thing to David. Everyone b!tches about everything.

Back in the room, David explains to Liz that she creates drama and needs to be nicer. Liz thinks David needs to be more of a manly-man to support her.

Claudia is very upset with the "truth tree." Apparently it makes her uncomfortable to tell the truth. She cries because she doesn't like this environment of Eden. "It's stupid," she whines. "Eden is evil.

Matt touches Kassie and she gets annoyed. He doesn't understand why Kassie doesn't feel bad for the weeping Claudia, but Kassie's not the touchy-feely kind of gal. "I'm here with you, dude," Matt says to her lovingly back in the room.

At breakfast the next day, everyone anticipates the new girl. Michelle arrives, and her accent is a dead give-away that she's from Brooklyn. Jason drools as Michelle and her chest make their way across the beach. Michelle proclaims that she is here to win.

"I am wild, in a classy way," Michelle announces on the next episode when she "erupts" onto the scene. But will she be able to "augment" her money "chest" with more coins before all hell "breaks" loose?

{ I think this was the best show yet!! I am now totally hooked .......puddin}

yayyy i found lovers of forever edennnn lolz well hey im emma N im from australia N this show has been aired on cable tv n i LOVEEEEEEE it omg tomorrow is the season finale and im soooo stoked!!! if ya wanna know what has been happening i can try to fill you in, i missed alot of eps because of school N all.. but ohhhh the end has been sooo good im so excited bout the season finale tomorrow!!aNywayyzz cya's.